1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to wheeled hand-held luggage carriers of the type commonly employed by airplane passengers. In particular, the present invention relates to multipurpose, wheeled luggage carriers capable of transporting suitcases, bags, self-supporting garment bags, and the like.
2. Description of Prior Art
At the present time there are many conventional means of transporting luggage. The traveler has the choice of hand-held luggage such as suitcases, "carry-on" bags, garment bags, and an assortment of carrier apparatuses. Suitcases are suitable for carrying many articles, however, a suitcase must be checked, in most cases, and cannot be carried onto an aircraft or stored in overhead compartments. A packed suitcase is also both heavy and cumbersome and unsuitable for transport over large distances. Numerous wheel and handle arrangements have been added to suitcases to facilitate transport, however, they are still unsuitable as "carry-ons". Moreover, the suitcase is somewhat unsatisfactory for the business traveler who typically has only a few days of clothes to carry and would prefer not to be delayed waiting for luggage to be unloaded from the airplane. A partial solution to this problem is the lightweight carry on bags which permit some flexibility in transporting clothes yet do not provide convenient means for carrying or transport. Another problem with carry on bags is that, when used with other luggage they must be carried separately, and require some positioning and re-positioning of the luggage whenever use of the hands is required.
Another partial solution to carrying certain luggage is the garment bag. However, garment bags are usually cumbersome and bulky, and somewhat awkward to carry. When smaller items are carried in a garment bag they fall to the bottom of the bag resulting in disorder of if spillage, damage to articles carried thereon. Numerous attempts have been made to make the garment bag more like a large suitcase, unfortunately such attempts have resulted in large rigid pieces of luggage which are difficult to carry and store. An example of this genre is U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,768 issued to Lugash which discloses a rigid, mobile bag capable of carrying long pieces of clothing without folding. However, this type of bag only adds to a travelers problems when attempts are made to transport the bag in conjunction with other luggage such as suitcases.
Various carriers have been proposed and implemented for use with garment bags. Representative examples are U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,141 issued to Walker which discloses a carrier for garment bags with a peripheral frame member for insertion into the garment bag; U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,429 issued to Taber et al. which discloses a carrier having an axial post and extendable leg members which allow the device to be stable in an upright, standing position; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,709 issued to Williams et al. which discloses a wheeled garment bag having a garment enclosure and spring loaded support feet reflected in the "AIRPORTER" and "SKYVALET" commercial designs.
None of the prior art known to applicant discloses a wheeled luggage carrier for carrying luggage and garment bag which can be easily attached, unfolded to transport said luggage or garment bag as required, then folded into a compact configuration for convenient transport onto aircraft and stored in overhead compartments either attached or separate from luggage or garment bags.